NBA seeks cancellation of Maheshwar power purchase

New Delhi: Narmada Bachao Andolan and lawyer -activist Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday demanded that MP government cancel the power purchase agreement of the Maheshwar project and ensure that no further public money is spent on it.

Bhushan also demanded that a case be registered against the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh for asking LIC to give more money to the project.

He said Singh be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the case should be handled by the CBI.

"The project cost which was Rs 465 crore then has now reached Rs 4,200 crore. Till date they (the private firm) have taken about Rs 3,200 crore from the government and have transfered that money to its other accounts. Even RBI has declared it as illegal.

"A case of corruption and fraud should be registered against the promoters as well as Digvijay Singh," Bhushan told a press conference here.

Other NBA activists demanded that MP government cancel the power purchase agreement for the Maheshwar project.

Pointing out at the slow rehabilitation process of those displaced due to the power project, Bhushan said only one- fourth of the estimated rehabilitation cost had been given by the company in last 20 years.

"Eighty-five per cent of those displaced are yet to be rehabilitated for the last 16 years. In the last 20 years they have only given one-fourth of the estimated rehabilitation cost," Bhushan claimed.

He also said the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board has registered 20 cases against the company and investigations are going on for the last nine years.

Last year the Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh had advised the state government to terminate the project as the company had defaulted, he added.